The Ancient Macedonians had populated the more southerly portions of Macedon since pre-Classical times. The first Macedonian state emerged in the 8th or early 7th century BC under the Argead Dynasty, when the Macedonians are said to have migrated to the region from further west. Their first king is recorded as Perdiccas I.

The Macedonian city of Amphipolis was founded by the Athenians in 436 BC to protect their mining interests in the north. Amphipolis surrendered to the Spartan general Brasides in 424 BC. The city preserved its independence until 357 BC when it was captured by Philip II, King of Macedon.

Born in Pella, Philip was the youngest son of the king Amyntas III and Eurydice II. In his youth, Philip was a hostage in Thebes, the leading city of Greece during the Theban hegemony. While a captive there, Philip received a military and diplomatic education from Epaminondas. He became involved in a pederastic relationship with Pelopidas, and lived with Pammenes, who was an enthusiastic advocate of the Sacred Band of Thebes. In 364 BC Philip returned to Macedon. The deaths of his elder brothers, King Alexander II and Perdiccas III, allowed him to take the throne in 359 BC. His son Alexander The Great was born in 355 BC.

Philip III Arrhidaeus was king of Macedon from June 10, 323 BC until his death. He was a son of King Philip II of Macedon by Philinna of Larissa, allegedly a Thessalian dancer, and a half-brother of Alexander the Great. Named Arrhidaeus at birth, he assumed the name Philip when he ascended to the throne. In Plutarch's report, he became both physically and mentally disabled following a poisoning attempt by Philip II's wife, Queen Olympias, who wanted to eliminate a possible rival to her son Alexander. However, this may just be malicious gossip, and there is no evidence that Olympias really caused her stepson's condition. Alexander was very fond of him, and took him on his campaigns, both to protect his life and to ensure he would not be used as a pawn in a challenge for the throne. After Alexander's untimely death in Babylon, Arrhidaeus was proclaimed king by the Macedonian army in Asia. However, he was a mere figurehead, and a pawn of the powerful generals, one after the other. His reign and his life did not last long.

Alexandros III Philippou Makedonon (Alexander the Great, Alexander III of Macedon), King of Macedonia, was born in late July 356 BC in Pella, Macedonia. He was one of the greatest military genius in history. He conquered much of what was then the civilized world, driven by his divine ambitions of world conquest and the creation of a universal world monarchy.

Lysimachos was born around 360 BC to Thessalian Greek parents who had migrated to Macedonia. He served in the army of Philip II and was appointed to the select somatophylakes (royal bodyguards) under Alexander the Great. After the death of Alexander he was given a satrapy consisting of Thrace and parts of north-western Asia Minor. He supported the various coalitions that included Seleukos, Ptolemy and Kassandros against the growing power of Antigonos Monophthalmos. Like the other major successor generals, he proclaimed himself king in 305/4 BC. He already acted as an independent dynast in Thrace where four years earlier he destroyed Kardia in the Thracian Chersonesos so that he could replace it with his own capital named Lysimacheia. Lysimachos was instrumental in the final destruction of Antigonos at the battle of Ipsos in 301 BC. It fell to him and his army to hold the Antigonid forces in Asia Minor until Seleukos could arrive from the east with his war elephants and deliver the coup de grace. Because of the great risks that he undertook Lysimachos received the majority of Antigonos' old possessions in Asia Minor. Despite some difficulties with native Thracian tribal chiefs (he was briefly held hostage by one in 292 BC) as well as an alliance of Skythian nomads and Greek cities, Lysimachos wrested the very throne of Macedonia from Demetrios Poliorketes in 285. Lysimachos was killed by the forces of Seleukoson in 281 BC .

History of The Macedonian Kingdom

Around the time of Alexander I of Macedon, the Macedonians began to expand into Eordaia, Bottiaea, Pieria, Mygdonia, and Almopia. Near the modern city of Veria, King Perdiccas I (or, more likely, his son, Argaeus I) built his capital, Aigai (modern Vergina). After a brief period of Persian overlordship under Darius Hystaspes, the state regained its independence under King Alexander I (495–450 BC). Prior to the 4th century BC, the kingdom covered a region approximately corresponding to the province of Macedonia in modern Greece. It became increasingly Hellenized during this period, though prominent Greeks appear to have regarded the Macedonians as uncouth. A unified Macedonian state was eventually established by King Amyntas III (c. 393–370 BC ), though it still retained strong contrasts between the cattle-rich coastal plain and the fierce isolated tribal hinterland, allied to the king by marriage ties. They controlled the passes through which barbarian invasions came from Illyria to the north and north-west. Amyntas had three sons; the first two, Alexander II and Perdiccas III reigned only briefly. Perdiccas III's infant heir was deposed by Amyntas' third son, Philip II of Macedon, who made himself king and ushered in a period of Macedonian dominance of Greece. Philip's son Alexander the Great (356–323 BC) managed to briefly extend Macedonian power not only over the central Greek city-states, but also to the Persian empire, including Egypt and lands as far east as the fringes of India. Alexander's adoption of the styles of government of the conquered territories was accompanied by the spread of Greek culture and learning through his vast empire. Although the empire fractured into multiple Hellenic regimes shortly after his death, his conquests left a lasting legacy, not least in the new Greek-speaking cities founded across Persia's western territories, heralding the Hellenistic period.

Greek Coin Book and Other References:

Mionnet = Mionnet, Theodore Edme Description De Medailles Antiques, Grecques Et Romaines
Imhoof = Imhoof-Blumer, von F    Kleinasiatische Münzen
RecGen = Waddington, William Henry    Recueil General des Monnaies Greques d'Asie Mineure
BMC = British Museum Catalogues
SNG = Volumes of the worldwide SNG project    Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum,
Moushmov = Moushmov, Nikola    Ancient Coins of the Balkan Peninsula
SGI = Sear, David R    Greek Imperial Coins & Their Values
RPC = Reinach & Hill    Roman Provincial Coinage
GIC = Varbanov, Ian    Greek Imperial Coins
MacDonald = University of Glasgow    Catalogue of Greek Coins in the Hunterian Collection
WW = Wildwinds.com (reference & attribution site)